New Places, New Faces
by Set-Phasers-To-Stun
Summary: Tara has to leave her life and friends behind as her family moves to a small town called 'Sunnydale'. Will she find new friends? Perhaps more?
1. Prologue

"I'm going to miss you guys." Tara pulled away from her best friend.

"Well duh, that's 'cause we kick ass." Faith said, trying to be tough. Tara laughed at the brunette. She had known her since grade school and now she had to move away.

"Yeah, you do." The blonde said, trying to keep the mood light. She turned to face her other friends. They were her life, and she hated have to leave them all

"God, your dad suck. Why can't you just stay here? You can live with me for a week, then Anya, then Faith..." Dawn couldn't stand the thought of her neighbor moving away. They had only known each other a few years, but had managed to build a strong friendship. Tara hugged the smaller brunette.

"I wish" she giggled "but I really don't have a choice", saying this in a sadder voice.

"I know, I know." They ended the embrace and Anya stepped up.

"You didn't sign my yearbook correctly. How can you move away without signing my yearbook in the proper fashion?" Tara just smiled at her bottle-blonde friend. She had come to the conclusion that, despite her out bursts and blunt statements, Anya was one of her more sane friends. "Why are you smiling? You're not supposed to smile when I'm angry at you and you're moving far far away to a town that none of us have ever heard of!" Then Anya threw her arms around Tara. "You're supposed to cry and apologize, like in the movies."

Tara frowned. She had never seen her friend like this. She wasn't aware that her friends cared this much about her. Anya pulled away and sniffled. She looked at Oz. Without warning, she grabbed his arm and shoved him into Tara. "You! You hug her now! And you need to be more upset!"

"I am." He said very monotonously. The short, currently black-haired boy slowly reached up and hugged Tara. "It'll be weird without you" he said.

"You too."

Just then, Tara noticed a familiar car pull up.

"There's my dad I guess I have to go." She hitched a thumb towards the school parking lot. Tara scanned over her friends one last time. She wouldn't see any of them for a while, not after she moves from Sacramento to that small town her parents said was called 'Sunnydale'.


	2. I've Just Seen a Face

Three months later...

Tara sat anxiously looking out the car window. The summer had been exceedingly boring and she missed her friends so much. She just hoped her first day at Sunnydale High School wouldn't be too dreadful. She fidgeted with her bracelets, checked her watch for no reason, and pulled at her shirt. Her father pulled up to the school and Tara saw all the students running around, most of whom she could tell already knew each other. "Now Tara, you behave. I'll pick you up after school."

"Yes, dad…bye." The blonde got out of the car and walked slowly up to the school doors.

* * *

_ Let's see. My first class is... oh!_ The hallway was crowded and people were slamming into Tara while she put her things into her locker. She shook her head and withdrew her class schedule from her pocket. _Health. Oh boy. This'll be a blast._ She slammed her locker shut and started off towards her first period class.

When she entered the classroom, she was unhappy to find that she was the first person there. Obviously everyone else was still hanging out in the hall. _And I'm all alone._ She took a seat in the back. The teacher was rushing around the front of the room adding last minute touch-ups to her lesson plan. A few students started to file in. Chattering groups of long-time buddies entered after them, still buzzed from the events of the summer. Then, SHE walked in. _Oh my god. It's her. That's the girl I saw at the open house. I can't believe she's in my class!_

* * *

Tara wanted to leave. She didn't have any problems with her schedule and she knew where her classes were. Her father had insisted that she speak to the guidance counselor though, so Tara was stuck waiting out in the hall for a while. She watched all the other kids walk by, some with parents, some with friends. They were all holding maps and class schedules, just like she was. Tara crossed her arms and leaned up against a wall. She watched as a dark-haired guy and a small blonde girl started dancing around, hugging each other, laughing. They reminded Tara of her friends. Then, as if a beam of heavenly light had appeared in the middle of the school hallway, SHE was there. The first thing Tara noticed about the girl was her eyes. They were like two gorgeous emeralds sparkling under the cheap fluorescent lighting. Then there was her hair. It was the most beautiful color Tara had ever seen. It was auburn with a fiery glow to it. It was partly covered by a black bucket hat. She was smiling the most adorable smile ever. She wore a black tank top, and Tara could clearly see from where she was, an adorable smatter of freckles covering the pale skin of the girls arms. She was the most amazing looking girl Tara had ever seen. She joined the two that Tara had been watching and they started off down the hall.

* * *

Tara assumed that was the last time she'd ever see her, except maybe around the school sometimes. She hadn't even thought of the possibility that the girl might be in any of her classes. But, here she was, just casually walking in with the girl that she had seen her with at orientation. They took two seats on the other side of the room. 

Once a reasonable amount of students had come in, the teacher began to speak.

"Alright everyone, sit down, summer is over. My name is Mrs. French. I see some familiar faces and a lot I don't recall, so just to help me with names, I've assigned seats." The entire class groaned. Tara smiled. _Thank god, now I won't look like a loser trying to find a seat everyday,_ she thought.

"Everyone stand up." The class obeyed and Mrs. French started calling off names. "Okay, Michael Campbell, Jonathan Levenson, Aurora Smith..." It took two rows before she got to Tara. "Amy Madison, Tara Maclay..." Tara took her seat and waited apprehensively for the girl with the red hair to be seated. Her hopes of sitting near the red-headed beauty were cast aside as Mrs. French made her way to the last row on the other side of the room.

"And finally, Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg." The two friends gave a whispered cheer and sat down, one behind the other.

_Willow Rosenberg. What a perfect name. And I sit nowhere near her, which is just my luck._ The class continued un-disrupted with books being handed out and Tara tossing the ever-obvious glance at the red haired angel that sat three seats over diagonally from her.

Second period ended with Tara yet to have spoken a word. She absently floated down the cramped halls with only one thought in her mind: Willow Rosenberg. It was then, on her way to third period, that Tara saw Willow with her blonde friend, Buffy, and the tall, dark haired boy that they had been with the other night. They were standing in front of what Tara assumed to be Willow's locker. She slowed down to look at her for a moment, and then went into the classroom across form where Willow's locker was. Tara had only been in the class a minute when the red-head and her two friends strolled in, laughing with each other. The teacher put his hands in the air and told everyone to stand up. _Yay! Assigned seating again!_ Tara ended up at the end of a row, way in the back, which is the way she liked it. She nervously eyed Willow as Mr. Flutie, the teacher, made his way down the row next to Tara's. "And at the end of that row, Willow Rosenberg." Willow frowned at her friends and made her way over to the seat right next to the blonde girl. Tara could feel every movement Willow made, despite the fact that they were at least a foot apart. She couldn't move, in fear that she might knock her books off her desk or make the chair squeak. She chanced a look at the girl next to her. The red head caught her gaze and gave Tara a quick grin. Tara almost melted.

The rest of the day was moderately similar to Tara's second class. She barely spoke to anyone and thought only of Willow. That was, until geometry class. Tara was already horrible at math, now she had to worry about the fact that Willow Rosenberg sat directly behind her. She could see every move Tara made. Tara absentmindedly listened to Willow chat with her friends, Buffy, and the boy, Xander. They were so much like her and her friends back in Sacramento, it was almost uncanny. Willow was not only cute, she was funny too. She babbled on to her friends about summer, classes, and computers. Tara had to stop herself from laughing a few times. She didn't mean to eaves drop, she was just so drawn to that girl and she wanted to know more about her.

The red head also ended up having a free period at the same time as Tara, and if that wasn't enough, Willow was in her last class as well.

This was going to be a difficult, but interesting year.


	3. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

Two weeks into the school year and Tara still hadn't really spoken to anybody. She just concentrated on her work, and then spent the rest of each class period day-dreaming of Willow Rosenberg. Tara had been gathering up the courage to say something to the red-head, anything. Then, in math one fateful day, the teacher spoke the words that would lead to something wonderful.

"This worksheet is difficult, I know. So I have decided to allow you to..." He took a deep breath, as if dreading the thing he was about to say. "Work in groups."

The entire class whispered "Yes!" and "alright!" Tara sighed. She didn't have any friends here, so who on earth would want her in their group. She quietly began working on the impossibly complicated worksheet that had been handed out by the teacher.

"Hey, Tara." _Oh great, now I'm hearing voices. As if things weren't bad enough._

"Tara" this time, Tara felt something poke her back. She turned to investigate, only to be met by two sparkling pools of green. "Do you want to work with us?" Willow gestured to her friends sitting next to her.

Tara's eyes went wide and she couldn't speak for a moment, then she said "sure." It was simple and easy to say without seeming like you were about to pass out. The blonde turned around all the way to share her answers with the object of her affection. All she could think was, _okay, I really feel like I'm going to explode soon. I'll just be sitting here, Willow will laugh or smile and I'll just go BOOM! That's it..._ Then the bell rang. Tara looked at Willow, then Xander, then Buffy. As much as she wanted the red head to talk to her, it was Xander who spoke.

"Thanks for the help, you're really smart" He tapped the side of his head then pointed at Tara.

"Any time" she said in a quiet voice. She chanced one last look at Willow and smiled. Buffy gave a little wave of her hand and then the three of them got up, and left the room. Tara was still smiling.

Later, in her sixth period class Tara gazed at Willow, as usual. She didn't even notice when the class ended because all she could think of was a few days ago when the red head asked her what page they were on in geography. _Eight,_ Tara thought with a grin. This was too much. She had to get the girl off of her mind. _Maybe if I talk to her, I'll get it out of my system,_ she thought while finally getting up and heading to her locker. _Okay, sometime tomorrow, I'll casually strike up a conversation. Yeah, like nothing could go wrong there._


	4. Day Tripper

"Hey Tara" Tara turned from her locker to see who in their right mind would be greeting her.

"Oh, h-hi A-Amy" She said when she saw the girl who was talking to her.

"Yeah..." Amy started "Let me sort of cut to the point here, my friend Michael likes you, okay?" Tara's face reddened a little.

"Oh, h-he d-does?"

"Yeah, but here's the thing, I told him I think you're... um... gay. He doesn't believe me." Tara looked down at her feet, letting her hair cover her face.

"Well," she said to the floor, "I-I um s-sort of a-am" Amy nodded her head.

"See, and you like that Willow girl right?" Tara's head shot up in surprise.

"W-what? Y-you can t-tell?" She wondered if Willow or her friends could tell also. Then Tara became worried.

Amy answered "Well yeah, but don't worry, I'm sure Willow hasn't noticed." Amy smiled and walked away. Tara just watched, stunned, concerned, and a little confused. Great. This is just what I need. The blonde sighed and slammed her locker shut.

* * *

As Tara walked down the hallway to lunch, she kept an eye out for her red-headed crush. She had made up her mind. The only way for Tara to get Willow out of her system would have to be to have an actual one-on-one conversation with her. Sure enough, the love of her life was standing right by the door to the cafeteria with her two best friends. She and Buffy were laughing as Xander balanced a lunch tray on his head. Tara couldn't help but smile as she approached. The red-head's laughter was absolutely adorable. She took a deep breath and made her way over to Willow. Her timing couldn't have been better. Buffy was walking closer to where Xander was still doing his balancing act, leaving Willow leaning up against a wall. 

"Um, h-hi W-Willow." Tara gave a sort of half wave as she greeted the other girl. Willow looked over to see who was speaking to her.

"Hey Tara" her face broke out into a huge grin as she returned the hello. Tara thought she would melt at the sight of the girl's smile. It never ceased to amaze her how totally gorgeous she was.

"Uh... hi. I w-was w-wondering if..." Oh Crap. At the thought of speaking to Willow, Tara hadn't really given much thought to what exactly she would say. She struggled to find something to say that wouldn't make her sound crazy. "Uh... in g-geography, if... AH!" Tara jumped as she was unexpectedly covered in food.

"Ahh... oh god! Are you okay! I'm sorry!" Xander had lost his balance and ran directly into her, his lunch tray falling right on her.

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine. It's o-okay."

"Are you sure?" This time it was Willow asking.

"Um... y-yes it's j-just food." Tara started to brush nachos out of her hair when suddenly, she felt her arm being pulled another direction.

"Come on, I'll help you." Willow was pulling her in the way of the bathroom. At first, the blonde resisted, she didn't want to inconvenience the girl. When Willow noticed that Tara wasn't coming, she smiled her oh-so-Willow smile and tugged gently on her arm. "Don't you want to get all that stuff off you?" she giggled

"W-well yeah, but y-you don't have t-to go with m-me." Willow shook her head slightly and waved her hand.

"It's no problem." She then turned to where her two friends were standing. "Hey guys, I'm gonna go help Tara, okay?"

Buffy responded, as Xander was still a bit embarrassed by his balancing skills, or lack-there-of. "Yeah, sure Will, See you next period." The red head nodded and pulled Tara off down the hall and into the girl's restroom.


	5. If I Needed Someone

"Hand me your jacket."

Tara did as instructed, and without a word, handed her jacket to the love of her life. She felt bad that Willow felt obligated to help her. As much as she wanted to tell the redhead she could handle washing up without her assistance, she couldn't seem to muster up the words. Here she was, in the girl's restroom with the most beautiful girl in the world. Tara watched as Willow turned the faucet on the sink and ran her cheese-stained jacket under the water.

"Um, don't you think you should start... you know... cleaning up a little? I mean, not that you look bad or anything but... you just... I wouldn't really want to be walking around all day with food in my hair, you know? I'm sure you don't either, unless... you do? What am I saying? Of course you don't... uh, sorry...with the...babble…"

Tara was pulled out of her trance by Willow's adorable babbling. It was way cuter being on the receiving end of the babble then when she overheard it in class. The blonde smiled and Willow shot her an endearing grin.

"It's o-okay. I don't m-mind, I um actually kind of l-like it" Tara said sheepishly. She earned another engaging grin in exchange for her confession. Tara walked over to the sink next to where Willow was and began washing up.

After a few minutes of silence, Willow asked "Uh... so, you just moved here right?"

Tara looked at the redhead through the mirror and said "Y-yeah, from S-Sacramento."

"Wow, Sunnydale must seem so small and boring compared to Sacramento" stated Willow.

"W-well, it's not so bad, I um, I kind of like it" Tara smiled; she had noticed her stutter gradually decreasing. Willow must have noticed too, because she, once again, began grinning like mad.

Then the red head looked down. "Oh, here." She handed Tara her jacket, with a few water stains on it, but cleaner then before. "I guess the stains weren't that bad." She laughed a little.

Tara looked down at the handy work of the love of her life. "Um, th-thanks." More smiling.

"No problem. I mean, hey, why I wouldn't help you. It was my friend who did it. Although he should really be the one helping you, but then again, he can't go into the girl's restroom. Not that I would rather not be helping you or anything! I just... I mean... it IS Xander's fault, but I have absolutely no problem assisting you i-in... all of this. You know, now that everything is all shiny and new, I guess we should be getting back to class. Unless, you're not done washing up? Are you? I mean you kind of look as if your done and your jacket just needs to dry off a little... uh... oops, I guess I'm doing the whole babbling thing again." Tara smirked, still adoring Willow's babbling tendencies.

"Y-yeah. I'm done w-washing up. We should get b-back to class n-now." She gestured towards the bathroom door.

"Yeah, okay, right" Willow responded. She started off out the door, the blonde close behind. They didn't talk the rest of the way back to class, but they cast shy glances back and forth. Tara fully enjoyed the silence.


	6. A Day in the Life

It had been about a week since the food tray incident and aside from friendly smiles and a small 'hi' in class that made the blonde's stomach flip, Tara hadn't really spoken to Willow since. Tara still sat in class staring and/or dreaming of Willow. She admired the redhead everyday from her table in the cafeteria, where she now ate lunch with Amy and Michael.

One fateful day, both of Tara's new friends were absent and Tara had a bit of a dilemma. _Okay, so they're not here. Where am I going to sit? Hmm...I know where I want to sit; with Willow of course. Wait, she's probably the last person I should sit by. I just know I'd end up saying something dumb or just sit there and not say anything at all...which might be worse._ Tara let out a long sigh as she made her way to the cafeteria.

When she entered, she scanned the room, stopped at her redheaded love for a second, then made her way over to her regular seat. _I guess I'll sit by myself for today._ She quickly finished her food and then looked around the lunch room. She spotted a boy from her science class and decided to go say hello, despite not knowing him that well. She made her way over to him and sat down.

"H-hey Larry," she said nervously.

"Um...hi Tara." The broad shouldered boy gave her a somewhat confused look. Tara bobbed her head a little. There was a bit of an awkward silence before Larry let out a deep breath and turned around in his seat.

"Hey, Xander?"

Tara rotated herself a bit to see what was going on. Her eyes widened when she realized who was sitting directly behind her. _Oh My God. How did I not notice that Willow was sitting RIGHT THERE? They must have just gotten here._ Xander, Willow and Buffy all looked at Larry, then at Tara.

"Yeah? What's up, Larry?" Xander responded to the other guy.

"I was just wondering if I could borrow that CD you were listening to in gym." Xander glanced at the blonde sitting next to Larry, and then fixed his gaze back on his friend.

"Yeah, sure thing big guy. I'll give it to you later."

The dark-haired boy grinned when he saw Larry nod, and then turned back to his friends. Larry looked at Tara and stood. "I have to go talk to some people." He pointed over to the other side of the room. "Catch you later." With that, he quickly took off in another direction.

"Yeah" Tara breathed out to herself. She looked down at the table. _Could I be any more pathetic?_ She thought.

"Hey, Tara," she heard from behind her. The blonde turned herself towards the voice that she easily recognized. She was met by Willow's gorgeous face.

"Y-yes?" Tara couldn't even imagine what the other girl wanted.

Willow visibly gulped and then asked, "Do you want to sit with us?" She gestured to the empty space right next to her. Tara examined the expressions of the three people sitting at that particular table. She then nodded and said, "Sure." Willow beamed and made room for the blonde.

As she got up, she heard the redhead say, "Cool, you looked like, all lonely and stuff." _Oh great, she noticed how devastatingly pathetic I am._ Tara took a seat and gave a shy smile to Buffy and Xander. The smaller blonde nodded a greeting and Xander grinned and gave a tiny wave. Tara glanced at the girl sitting next to her and then quickly looked down at the table. Tara felt so very out of place. She watched as the three people she was sitting with went on and on about anything in particular. She watched as Xander began talking about the miracle of cheerleading and how Willow and Buffy would find a way to change the subject to something completely unrelated.

"Okay, that is the most random thing you could have come up with! Cheerleading does not in any way connect with snowmen!" Xander accused.

Tara chuckled a little as the other two girls tried to think of something else to say. Noticing Tara's amusement, Xander turned to her and asked "Are they not the most random people you have ever met?" The blonde looked from his face to Buffy's and finally to Willow's.

"Uh...I-I guess...a l-little. But it's f-funny," she ended her answer with a small grin directed primarily towards Willow. The other girl returned the gesture with an adorable smile. Right then, the lunch bell rang, giving the cafeteria's occupants their cue to migrate out into the hallways. Tara got up and walked toward her locker.

_Well, that went splendidly. I knew I would act like a dork if I sat near her, but who knew that I would get the chance to prove my theory today? I just sat there. I barely said anything and she probably thinks I'm a loser. But...she DID smile at me. That has to be a good sign, right?_


	7. All Together Now

"So T, how's it been with…what's his name? Will?"

"Um, fine. It's just a crush." Tara answered quickly.

"Uh huh." She heard Faith reply on the other end of the phone.

It'd been a couple months since Faith had asked her if she was "diggin' any of the hotties" down in Sunnydale. Tara had hesitated, which lead to her best friend accusing her of crushing on someone. Tara wasn't sure she was ready to tell her that she was madly in love with a girl, so she made up 'Will' to get Faith off of her back.

"So…Faith, um, how's your W-winter Break going?" Tara asked, trying to change the subject.

"Pretty cool, T…but I was wondering if you could, ya know, e-mail me a picture of this Will guy. I'd like to see who's got you so hot and bothered that you're changing the subject all the damn time."

"Um…I w-would Faith, but I don't h-have one. I'll tell you when I d-do." This was also a lie. Amy worked on the school yearbook staff and had taken a picture of Willow. Tara remembered just how surprised she'd been when she found the picture in her locker with the words "How much do you love me now?" written on the back of it. As creepy as she felt about having a stolen photo of the gorgeous redhead, she couldn't resist. The picture was currently hidden in the drawer of her nightstand.

Tara hated lying to her friend like that, but she couldn't think of anything else to do for now. Maybe, if she ever worked up the courage, she could send Faith the picture and proudly say "That's Will, she's actually a girl named Willow and I love her."

-----------------------------------------------------------

With only a few days left of winter break, Tara was happy to finally be getting out of the house. Amy and Michael had invited her to the movies with them and she was terribly excited. It would be the first time she would hang out with both of them outside of school. Tara was so glad to finally have good friends in Sunnydale, it helped to have them with her when she started to really miss her friends from back home.

The theater was crowded, as was expected of a Friday night. Tara stood in the concessions line with her two good friends, giggling about silly things and just doing what average teenagers do on a night out.

While they were talking, Tara noticed Michael look over her shoulder and then smirk.

"Oh, how convenient…Look Tara, it's the love of your life." He gestured toward the ticket line behind the blonde.

Tara's eyes widened as she turned to see none-other than Willow Rosenberg with her trusty companions, Buffy and Xander. Tara ducked her head as they made their way over to the snack line that she was currently standing in.

"Oh hey, Tara!" Willow said as her trio approached Tara's. Upon seeing the other two she bobbed her head said "Amy, Michael…hey." The two of them exchanged their hellos with the girl

Tara shyly lifted her head and gave a small, rather pathetic wave. _I wonder how much I'm blushing right now._

"Fancy seeing you guys here" Xander commented

"Yeah, what theater are you headed to?" Buffy asked.

"Seven" Amy and Michael said in unison. Tara just smiled and nodded as she looked at the redhead in front of her.

"Oh! Well, that's even fancier. We're in seven too." Xander remarked

Willow grinned like crazy and suggested "We should all sit together!"

"We totally should" Buffy added.

Tara and her friends exchanged looks before Amy said "Yeah, sure, that'd be cool." She turned to Tara and smirked "Wouldn't that just be so fantastic, Tara?"

The blonde glanced around at the faces before her and stuttered "Um, y-yeah, it w-would b-be."

------------------------------------------------------

The former groups of three now formed a super-group of six. They made their way towards an empty row in the dark theater. Willow was the first to reach it, and Tara noticed the girl hesitate a bit. She turned her head and looked behind her.

_Did she just look at me? _Tara thought.

Willow stalled for a few more seconds before being pushed further down the row by Buffy.

"Come on, Will. The movie's gonna start. Grab a seat!"

So, for the next two hours, Tara sat and attempted to watch the movie, stealing peeks at the redhead four seats down from her. And, as insane as it may sound, she could have sworn she caught Willow doing the same. _Yeah, right. _

When the movie ended, the collection of six separated once again, exchanging their goodbyes and saying that they'll see eachother again when classes started back up on Monday. Tara spent her last two days of Winter Break anticipating the start of school.


	8. Here Comes the Sun

The bell indicating one minute to first period rang shrilly as Tara slammed her locker shut. It was the first day back form break. Tara had been anticipating the return ever since that night at the movies. Smiling to herself, Tara thought back to the how gorgeous Willow had looked in the glow of the theater.

Tara remembered how the light from the movie played across Willow's porcelain skin; how the redhead quietly giggled at funny moments and how her big green eyes gleamed at sad ones. She recalled how Willow had cast glances her way almost as often as Tara did and how-

"Earth to Tara!" Amy smirked at the blonde as she approached her on their way to first period.

Tara jumped a bit, not expecting to be pulled from her daydream so abruptly.

"Uh, head in the clouds much?" Amy teased

"N-not really" Tara tried defending herself, only to earn an all-knowing look from her friend.

"Well, yeah. I was j-just thinking-"

"About Willow, perhaps?" Amy interrupted

"M-maybe a l-little" Tara admitted. She had gotten used to talking to Amy about her feelings for Willow. It was nice to be able to tell _someone._

The final bell rang just as they took their seats in Health. Michael greeted the two girls and they discussed their last days of winter break for a while before the teacher entered.

As Mrs. French blathered on about the reproductive system, Tara couldn't help but fall into her usual habit of staring at the redheaded object of her affection.

She watched as Willow carefully picked out different colored highlighters to mark her notes with and smiled inwardly at the girl's obsessive-compulsive antics.

* * *

The rest of the day was a bit boring as teachers struggled to get their students back into a learning state of mind.

Tara was relieved to get to math, amazingly. She had barely seen Willow all day and was thankful to have a whole other class period to listen to the redhead babble on to her friends and, every once in a while, babble to Tara herself.

She took her seat in front of Willow and her friends and they exchanged the appropriate smiles and waves. Tara was pleasantly surprised when she felt Willow lean forward over her shoulder, a couple minutes later.

"Hey Tara, how was your break?" she asked the blonde

Tara licked her dry lips before quietly replying.

"F-fine. J-just fine. Y-ours?" her heart was pounding and she didn't know if she could take Willow leaning so closely over her like this.

"Oh, it was pretty great," the red-haired girl replied innocently, unaware of the effect she had on Tara "I got to light the menorah this year. It's pretty exciting…you know, if you're Jewish. I don't know how exciting it seems to you, though…It might seem exciting? Okay, stopping now. "

Tara giggled at Willow; she had missed the girl very much over the last few days.

Willow smiled at the blonde "It was really cool seeing you guys the other day. That was tons of fun. Did you have fun?"

"Oh, y-yeah. Of c-course I did." _Because you were there, _Tara thought. Or at least, she meant to think. "Because you were there…"

Willow scrunched her face up a bit, before smiling slowly.

Tara's eyes went wide and her faced flushed red. _Shit! Oh my god oh my god oh my god! Holy crap, now what? AHHH!!!_

"Uh, you _guys_. A-all of y-you guys; You, Xander, and Buffy; i-it was really f-fun because y-you guys were th-there. I-it made it m-more fun with more p-people there." She tried not to sound too conspicuous with that barely comprehensible false explanation. Tara ended with a weak smile.

Willow paused for a moment, trying to decipher Tara's worse-than-usual stutter. Then she grinned at the girl, flattered by her comment, but still wondering what mad her sound so nervous all of a sudden. She brushed it off for now, though.

"Well, we had oodles of excitement as well. We should do it again some time. Maybe we could get together this weekend? You know, all of us _guys." _Willow suggested emphasizing Tara's previous use of the term.

Tara perked up at this proposal. She smiled and nodded furiously.

"Oh, y-yes, definitely we sh-should."

Willow grinned like crazy and placed her hand on Tara's shoulder, exclaiming "Great! I'll talk to Buffy and Xander!" before leaning back in her desk and getting back into geometry.

Tara could hardly concentrate the rest of the class period. She smiled down at her worksheet the entire time. When the bell rang for lunch, she almost squealed as Willow stood up, and once again put a freckled hand on Tara's shoulder, leaned down to the blonde's level, and said "Talk to you later, Tara."


	9. I Want to Hold Your Hand

**I'm sorry, I know it's been a really long time, but I wrote this chapter a while ago...then my computer crashed and I lost the file. I almost gave up on the story entirely, but I was struck with inspiration. I'll be up the next chapter soon. Enjoy!**

* * *

The Mall. One may not think of the mall as a romantic setting, what with all the bratty children and sale-hungry housewives running about, but it was deemed an acceptable place for Tara and the redheaded love of her life to spend the day together…along with four of their closest friends. 

Tara, Amy, and Michael waited in the middle of the food court in Sunnydale's only mall. They sat along the wall of a penny-filled wishing fountain that had been so badly neglected over the years, the geyser of water in the center was now a mere gurgle.

Tara stared into dirty water while her two friends giggled to themselves about something. She glanced over at Amy and Michael to make sure they weren't paying attention to her before closing her eyes and discreetly dropping a penny into the depths.

_Come on penny, _She mentally urged the drowning coin; _you know what I want…or more specifically, __**who **__I want._

"What'd you wish for?"

Tara's eyes snapped open. She let out a small gasp as she tried to answer Willow, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She glanced to her left where she found Buffy and Xander talking to Amy and Michael, the latter apparently saying something to make Buffy laugh a lot.

"H-hey Willow, I um, I didn't realize you were there. I was j-just…the penny…y-you know…"

"That's alright, you don't have to tell me. Besides, it might not come true if you tell me." Willow said with a wink.

_Did she just wink at me? _Tara shook the thought off before standing up to properly greet the other girl.

"So, I'm glad you could m-make it. Today should be f-fun." She smiled at the redhead

"It sure as heck will, mister!" Willow beamed. "Miss…sorry, too excited." she added sheepishly.

_So very adorable_ Tara mused, but was soon pulled out of her thoughts when she felt an arm being put around her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Xander standing between herself and Willow, an arm also around the shoulders of the red-haired girl.

The dark-haired boy leaned in and grinned at the two girls he managed to capture.

"Ladies, ladies," he said to them as he steered them around to face the rest of the group, "if you don't mind joining in with the rest of us kiddies, shall we begin our journey into the wonderful world of retail?"

Tara snickered, feeling both annoyed and amused by the boy. Xander released the girls from his grasp and addressed the group.

"Who's up for some deep-fried fat-saturated dough smothered in equal amounts of grease and salt?" He asked everybody.

Buffy, who had been quiet until now, sadly stated "A pretzel sounds good right about now, actually."

"Is that what their calling it these days? What will they think of next?" he joked as he left Tara and Willow behind to catch up with Buffy.

* * *

"How about this one?" Amy questioned Willow and Tara for what seemed like the hundredth time that day as she stepped out of the dressing room. 

They looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and looked back at Amy and her outfit.

"It's fine, Amy. They all are…except for that l-leather one. Don't b-buy that." Tara warned her friend with a grimace.

"Yeah, can we go now? Let's try to find the others. I think they're in that really nifty store that sells scented candles and stuff." Willow added.

Amy sighed "You two are useless!" then she smirked as if she had gotten an idea, "How about you two go? I want to buy some more stuff and I might be a while. I'll catch up with you later." She then wiggled her eyebrows at Tara before withdrawing back into the dressing room. 

Tara glared at the dressing-room door. How dare Amy use her eyebrows in such a way as to almost blow her cover to Willow? _Okay, that's a bit _overdramatic_, but still, that store is all the way on the other side of the mall. Willow and I will be totally alone for almost five minutes! What will I do!?_

"Come on!" Willow exclaimed, pulling Tara out of the dressing rooms by the arm "That store is all the way on the other side of the mall! That gives us almost five minutes together to bond! Yay!" the redhead squealed.

Tara laughed nervously "Y-yay…"

Tara gazed dreamily at Willow as they walked through Sunnydale Mall. Willow was waving her arms about as she told her blonde companion a story.

"…And then it started decrypting itself! Can you believe that? I spent all day on that program and BAM! It decides 'Hey, I don't need this girl all up in my binary code! I can decrypt myself...La-di-da…No big deal!' It's like when you have a riddle an-and someone just outright tells you the answer! Where's the fun in that? Nowhere! Because the fun's not there…it…um. Sorry. I'm probably boring you to death, aren't I?"

Tara put a reassuring hand on Willow's arm "Oh, n-no, of course not! It sounds v-very interesting." She looked down at her hand and thought _Oh my god. I'm touching her. Why did I do that? _Tara quickly smiled and retracted her hand.

"You really mean that?" Willow asked with a tentative smile

"Mhmm, I do." Tara said softly

"Thanks…but I'll still try not to get too 'rawr' crazy when I talk about computers and such."

Tara grinned and shook her head at the ground. _I can't believe this adorable girl is talking to me, hanging out with me. It's just…unbelievable. _

She looked up when she noticed Willow stop. They were at their destination and, as Willow had guessed, their friends were inside browsing the shelves.

"See? I knew they'd be here." Willow said. She glanced at their friends in the store, smiled shyly, and then turned back to Tara. "Can I ask you something?" Tara nodded soundlessly.

Willow pulled the blonde away from the store entryway and they sat on a nearby bench. Willow looked back at the store and then back to Tara. She smiled nervously.

_Oh god. I wonder if she…no. She doesn't like me…does she? _Tara thought back on their day and all the fun they seemed to have together. _Maybe my wish came true. _She anticipated Willow's next words.

"Tara…I was wondering if …um…"

Tara's heart was racing as Willow tried to get out her sentence. _Maybe…_

"Is Michael seeing anyone?"


	10. If I Fell

Shattered, just shattered. That was the only word Tara could think of at the moment. She gaped at Willow. The other girl was awaiting Tara's answer with a pleading look upon her face.

Tara's mind raced with so many different reactions to the question. _Michael? I knew she could never feel the same way I feel about her. I'm so stupid! _She took a moment to compose herself before attempting to answer Willow.

"M-Michael? Y-you…Do you l-like..." she couldn't even finish the sentence.

Willow's eyes widened. "What? No!"

Tara looked up at the redhead in confusion. "But…y-you-"

"Noooo. No. I was only asking because, well, you see, Buffy just broke up with her boyfriend, Angel. He left town all out-of-the-blue like and Buffy's been really really upset and I was just thinking that Michael seems really nice and all an-and they seem to be getting along really well today, don't you think? So, you see, just helping out a friend…just being super-helper gal over here."

Tara took a moment to absorb all of Willow's high-speed explanation. She gazed down at the ground and let out a long breath. She then rocked back into the seat and looked back at Willow. "Oh." Was all she could say.

"So, is he?" Willow inquired again.

"No. No he isn't." Tara finally answered with the biggest grin upon her face.

"Well, then. That's good, then. Great even. That he's not. I'll have to talk to Buffy later, then. Thanks, Tara." Willow put a hand on Tara's knee before standing up and motioning towards the store where their friends were.

Tara promptly rose and the two walked to their original destination.

_Wow, that was a lot of unnecessary emotional stress. It's a good thing I didn't cry or anything. That might have been hard to explain…Oh hey!! She touched my knee! _

"Hey, it's the Willster!" Xander exclaimed as the two girls approached them "and the Tare…ster. Don't worry, I'll think of something better next time."

The blonde smiled, now in a much better mood than she was a minute ago. She gave Xander a small wave.

"I myself go by the Xan-man, or X-man…not to be confused with the Marvel superheroes. Though, it has been said I can be just as super. So, by all means, confuse away."

Tara giggled, and then she felt someone nudge her shoulder. She looked over to Willow, who smiled and pointed over to where Buffy and Michael were standing. Michael was flirtatiously tickling Buffy with a feather-duster. The two looked pretty cozy.

Tara returned her gaze to Willow. _Always comes back to her. _When their eyes met, they both grinned widely. They stood like that for quite some time, just looking at each other and smiling like crazy…until Xander called them over to him, yelling something about an odd smelling candle.

Willow gave Tara a little smirk before grabbing her hand and pulling her in Xander's general direction. Tara obliged, losing herself in the feeling of her hand in Willow's, not really caring one way or the other about Xander's smelly candle.

* * *

Their wonderful day at the mall was coming to an end. The six teenagers stood in the parking lot exchanging various goodbyes.

Buffy gave one last drawn-out hug to Michael before she and Xander started making their way towards Xander's beat up old car.

Tara walked up to Willow, trying to work up the courage to give her new friend a goodbye hug.

"S-so, you had f-fun, then?" She asked

"Mega-ultra amounts of fun was had by all, me especially." Willow replied with twinkling green eyes.

"Good…fun's g-good. So, I'll see you M-Monday, Willow. Th-thanks for today." Tara cautiously leaned in for a hug.

Willow placed her hands upon Tara's arms, stopping the attempted hug. Instead, she placed a quick kiss on Tara's cheek.

"Anytime, Tara." She winked and ran off to Xander's car.

Tara was stunned. She brought her hand up to her face to touch the spot where Willow's lips had just been.

_Oh my…that was…did that really happen? Am I dreaming? Did Willow Rosenberg just kiss me on the cheek? That was amazing. I-_

"Woo! Way to go, Tare!"

Tara turned to her friends. Amy was cheering such things as "Score!" and "You little hussy, you!" while Michael just made kissy faces at her.

Tara looked dreamily up at the sky. _Maybe dreams do come true...Wait, hussy?_


	11. With a Little Help from my Friends

**Apparently reviews motivate me, so please keep 'em coming!**

* * *

Tara was still a bit speechless when they got back to Amy's house after that fateful trip to the mall. Her mind raced as she tried to ignore the friendly taunts from Amy and Michael.

"So, I guess you're feeling pretty good right about now, huh Tara? Amy inquired from her seat on her bed.

Tara looked up from fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She took in a deep breath, which then turned into a long sigh.

"It was o-only a friendly k-kiss on the ch-cheek. I don't want to l-look too much into it." She responded with a sad smile.

"Oh, please. I know you're freaking out right now." Michael added without looking up from his comic book.

"M-maybe…" Tara said softly

"More like definitely," Amy countered, "I mean, she didn't kiss either of us and we've known her for years. You've been here a few months and she's practically making out with you!" Amy stated with a smirk.

"It's true," Michael agreed, sounding bored with the conversation, "She totally loves you."

"That's c-crazy." Tara argued, though she couldn't help but wonder if maybe her friends were maybe a little right. _Willow was being kind of flirty, right? And she spent the whole day with me…maybe I should just listen to them. Maybe they see something I don't. _

"Okay, what if she d-does l-like me t-too? What then?" Tara was so unsure of the situation at this point. If there was a possibility of something between her and Willow, she needed all the help she could get.

Amy broke out into a huge grin and squealed the happy squeal of a girl who's just heard a fantastic piece of gossip. "Tara, I knew you'd accept this sooner of later! You just need to spend a little more time together…without a bunch of people with you. If she keeps flirting with you like she did today-and you know she did- then make a move."

"A m-move? I don't think I can d-do that." Tara admitted, realizing how scary this situation sounded.

"Well, just do something small, like holding her hand or something. Perhaps you could return the cheek-kissing favor?" Amy was getting very excited at the thought of being the one responsible for Tara's love life.

"I don't know, Amy…" Tara said "I'm not g-good at stuff like that."

"Fine, then just forget it. Let this once-in-a-lifetime chance slip away because you're a chicken-baby. It's totally your call."

Tara sighed. Amy was right. She had to stop being a loser and just go for it. "Okay."

"Oh, yay!" Amy cheered "You guys will be sooo happy together! And it's all because of me! This is awesome!"

"Don't get ahead of y-yourself, Amy. I haven't d-done anything y-yet." Tara calmed her friend down.

"I know, but it's exciting. Now then, I've got you and Willow covered, Tara…onto newer, more unexpected love connections. Michael!" Amy yelled, getting the boys attention.

"What? Huh? What?" Michael asked, confused.

"What's the deal with you and Buffy? Where did **that** come from?" Amy inquired

Tara watched her friends banter back and forth about Buffy and Michael's behavior at the mall, but she wasn't really listening now. All she could think about was how she was going to approach Willow at school on Monday.

Tara was shaken out of her thoughts by her phone vibrating in her jacket pocket. She looked at the NEW TEXT alert on the screen. She smiled when she saw that it was from her best friend, Faith. But her smile turned into a panicked look when she read the message.

**Hey T, guess what?  
Im coming to visit you!**

**Kick ass, huh? See ya next fri.**

**Call ya later.**

**- F**


	12. Help!

_She's coming here? Why? _Not that Tara wasn't excited to see her best friend or anything. She was very happy about that…except for the part where she meets Willow and figures out that the Oh-So-Wonderful Will is actually a female.

_I'm not sure I'm ready for that. _Tara thought. She needed to process the situation. Or, she could let Amy and Michael process it for her.

"My friend Faith says she's coming to see me on Friday from Sacramento." She supplied the information to the room.

"Oh, that's cool. Can't wait to meet her." Michael stated, taking a break from bickering with Amy.

"Yeah, I guess." Tara couldn't hide the worry in her voice. Amy noticed what was wrong immediately.

"Oh, I get it," she said with a knowing smile. "You're afraid she'll figure out that your Dearest William has breasts."

Tara blushed and nodded in defeat of being read so easily.

"Don't worry, Faith sounds really cool from what you've told us. Amy assured.

"Actually, from what you've told us, she sounds a little butch herself…if you know what I mean." Michael added

"Oh, believe me. She likes men. A lot." Tara countered his suggestion

"You should have told her about Willow from the start. Amy said to her worried friend. "Besides, she'll have to know now that you're going to sweep Willow off her feet and make her your girlfriend."

"Amy…" Tara shook her head at the ridiculous notion. "W-we don't know that yet. And yeah, I know I should have told her. I guess I just thought she might, you know, freak or something."

She knew Amy was right. It was just hard to imagine coming out to Faith. Especially after she'd already made up a fictitious boy to cover up. _Maybe it won't be so bad. _The blonde mused, _She probably won't even meet Willow. _But Tara knew Faith would stop at nothing to meet the boy that stole her best friend's heart. The truth would have to come out eventually.

A sudden boldness took over Tara, the same one that took over moments ago when she agreed to "make a move" on Willow.

"I th-think I'm going to tell Faith when she gets here on Friday. She's going to want to meet William, so hopefully telling her will stop her from doing anything too h-horrible or embarrassing."

"Good idea, Tara. I'm sure Faith William be fine with it." Amy said.

"Hey, maybe she can join us in helping you woo your lady love" Michael batted his eyelashes at Tara as she threw a balled up piece of paper at his head.

The three of them laughed, but although she had been filled with a new sense of hope, Tara couldn't help but worry about her friend's possible reaction to the fact that Tara had been madly in love with a girl all this time.

* * *

Tara anxiously waited for Faith's promised call when she got home from Amy's house. She needed to find out how long the girl was staying so she could plan the best time for telling her about Willow. She sat nervously on her bed, phone by her side. She jumped a bit when it rang a few minutes later.

"H-hello?"

"Hey T! What's going on? Did ya get my message?" Faith asked.

"Um, yeah, I did."

"So, how pumped are you? Gettin' to see your bestest bud for the first time in months!" Faith sounded really enthusiastic.

"I'm so excited. I've missed you. How long are you staying, by the way?" Tara waited for an answer from the other end.

"Just 'til Sunday night. Oz has a gig in a nearby town, so I asked him to give me a lift. So, you'll be seeing him for a bit too when he drops me off at your place."

"Aw, that's great! I've missed him too!" Tara grinned into the phone, momentarily forgetting her minor distress over the situation.

"Yeah, Dawn wanted to catch a ride too, but her mom wouldn't let her."

"Oh, that's too bad. But it'll be great seeing you. I can't wait for you to meet my friends, Amy and Michael." Tara said

"and…"

"and…?"

"Oh come on, T. You know you have to introduce me to that William guy." Faith said what Tara was dreading.

"Right…William. Well, I don't know if he'll be around this weekend." Tara lied

"Oh, I'll find a way to meet the dude, Tare. I won't leave 'til I see him." Faith was really determined.

Tara gulped then laughed nervously. "Hah, well, okay Faith. Guess I'll see you on Friday then. Can't wait. Bye."

"Okay, T. Late-" Tara hung up quickly. She began wringing her hands nervously.

"It's okay. It'll be okay. It'll be fine. It'll be more than fine." She reassured herself.

She was startled when her phone rang in her lap. It was Michael.

"Hey Michael." She answered.

"Tara! Hey! So, guess what! Buffy wants to go out!"

"With you?"

"Well, sort of." He started "I was talking to Xander, and he said that Buffy really liked hanging out with me today! She wants to do it again, according to him." He was almost out of breath, he was so excited.

"Oh, that's great Michael. Good for you."

"And for you" he added

"M-me?" she asked "W-why for me?"

"Well, Amy said it might be better to stick with group outings for a while before making my move, so I don't come on too strong."

"Okay…"

"Xander said he talked to Buffy and your girl and their totally up for another mall trip next Saturday! So, I can make my move and you can make yours! It's perfect!"

_Saturday? Oh no…_

"Faith's coming next weekend! I told you!" Tara said quickly into the phone

"So, bring her along. It'll be fine. Hey, I'm gonna go, Xander's calling me on the other line. Bye" and with that, he hung up.

Tara fell back onto her bed. _Of course. _She thought _Why do these things happen to me?_

She sighed, reaching over to her nightstand and pulling out that adorable picture of Willow from the drawer. She looked at it for a moment, smiled, and placed it back in it's hiding spot.

This weekend would not be easy.


End file.
